The Basic Law has historically acted as a bulwark for press freedom, and the mainland’s internet censorship regime does not yet apply in Hong Kong. Residents have long had access to a variety of print, broadcast, and digital news sources. However, following several years of sustained political and economic pressure on independent media by the Hong Kong and Chinese governments, press freedom has deteriorated over the 2020s to date.
Prodemocracy media owner Jimmy Lai was arrested on suspicion of “colluding with foreign forces” in 2020, while police raided the offices of his Apple Daily newspaper in 2020 and 2021. Apple Daily and sister publication Next Magazine both closed in 2021, while the Lai-founded publisher Next Digital effectively shut down that September. Lai received a prison term in 2021 for protest activity, received another sentence over fraud allegations in December 2022, and still faces charges under the territory’s sedition law as well as an NSL trial.
More independent outlets closed in 2022. In January, Citizen News closed, with its leaders citing safety concerns for staff and the worsening media environment. In June, the FactWire investigative outlet closed.
Radio Television Hong Kong, the territory’s public broadcaster, had a reputation for independence before the government effectively took control of its output in 2021. In October 2022, Eddie Cheung, a government official with no previous media experience, became its director of broadcasting. In November, Cheung vowed to “collaborate seamlessly” with police and other arms of the local government.
Journalists from international news organizations and from the South China Morning Post were unable to attend Chinese president Xi’s speech or other events during his June–July 2022 visit to Hong Kong.
In September 2022, a court sentenced five speech therapists to 19 months in prison for publishing children’s books that the government labeled as “seditious.” Government prosecutors alleged that the books had encouraged opposition to the government in Beijing.
Other constraints include an antidoxing law which gives authorities broad license to arrest anyone who published personal information recklessly or with the intent of causing harm. Under legislation passed that same year, films can be retroactively banned on national security grounds. Hong Kong does not currently have a “fake news” law, though the Path to Democracy party called for one in September 2022.